The fourth aspect of the church as the testimony of Jesus is that it is God’s farm to grow the divine crop. This crop is first the one hundred forty-four thousand firstfruits, a small number, and then the harvest, the majority (14:1-5, 14-16). This tells us that in the church life we all need to grow. Verse 4 shows the way to grow. This verse says concerning the firstfruits, “These are they who have not been defiled with women, for they are virgins. These are they who follow the Lamb wherever He may go.” In order to grow, we need to stay away from any kind of defilement. Daniel and his three friends were offered the best food by the royal palace in Babylon, but Daniel purposed in his heart not to defile himself by eating food that had been offered to idols. In this way, these young men kept themselves from being defiled (Dan. 1:5-6, 8). Everywhere on the earth today there is defilement. Young people especially must be careful not to be defiled, and they must also follow Jesus wherever He goes. If the young people will follow Christ, they will not go to casinos, because Jesus never goes there. If the young people will do this and separate themselves to the Lord, they will grow every day, and they will be the firstfruits produced by the church life.
When I was in Christianity, I did not observe much growth there. People can sit in Christian meetings for many years and still remain the same. This is because Christianity is not a farm but an “iceberg” on which nothing can grow. The Sunday morning service is a time mainly for people to relax in the pews. In speaking this I am defaming no one; I am simply speaking the truth. If we mean business in the church life, we will grow week after week. Recently a certain brother was captured by the Lord after visiting the homes of the saints. At that time, he had a long beard, but we said nothing to him about it. However, after a short time in the church he received some transformation, and he shaved his beard. Another young brother with his wife were among us, continually enjoying the Lord, but for over a year he also had a beard. In the church we do not have any ordinances. Our only “ordinance” is that we should not regulate anyone. Because of this, we stopped ourselves from saying anything to him about his beard. Recently, though, I saw that he had shaved his beard. His wife said, “I have a ‘new’ husband.” I told him, “To be sure, you are another person.” Later he testified that he had kept his beard because he thought that to deal with it was too religious. Nevertheless, the anointing within him bothered him and required him to shave it off. We can tell many stories like this. In the local church the crop is growing.
If we simply come to the church meetings and follow the flow to say, “O Lord, Amen, Hallelujah!” we can be assured that we are growing and that we will not remain the same. We thank the Lord that we are especially seeing the young people growing in the church life. It is not adequate to say that we are the church. What kind of church are we? If we do not see the young people in the church growing, this indicates that the church in our locality is not fertile soil. The church must be fertile, and we must all be growing in life.
Revelation 15:2-5 reveals the fifth aspect of the testimony of Jesus—the overcomers standing on a glassy sea mingled with fire before God’s heavenly temple. A number of the saints are on the shore of this sea, singing the song of Moses and the song of the Lamb. This is a picture signifying further spiritual matters concerning the testimony of Jesus. The church as the testimony of Jesus is composed of a group of saints who have been saved through water, just as Noah was saved from his evil generation through the water that flooded the earth (Gen. 6:11-14a) and as the Israelites were saved through the water of the Red Sea not only from God’s judgment but also from the evil power of Pharaoh (Exo. 14:22, 29). The final chorus of Hymns, #438 says, “I’ve crossed the Red Sea of His death, / And left the world behind me.” The flood for Noah and the Red Sea for the Israelites were both a baptism (1 Pet. 3:20-21; 1 Cor. 10:1-2). Today we, the New Testament believers, are also baptized. The real meaning of baptism is that it is a burial (Rom. 6:4). A certain man may be a millionaire with banks, corporations, and many friends and relatives. It will certainly be hard for such a man to break all these ties, but on the day he is buried, he will finally come out of the world. Nothing separates us from all the worldly ties as thoroughly as burial. Anyone who means business with the Lord must see that he has come out of the world by passing through water. The water of the Red Sea will never allow us to return to Egypt.
Moreover, in front of the tabernacle there was the laver (Exo. 30:17-21). The laver did not wash away sins; it was the altar that did this. However, even after passing through the altar, people still could not come into the presence of the Lord without passing through the laver to wash away the dirt of worldliness. This also signifies baptism. After the Israelites entered into the good land, they built the temple. In front of the temple was a bronze sea with ten bronze lavers (1 Kings 7:23-40a), the fullest type of baptism. The first event that transpired in the New Testament was baptism. John the Baptist called people to repent, and he baptized those who came to him (Mark 1:4; Matt. 3:5-6). This was to terminate people, bury them, and take them out of this world. All the believers must pass through a genuine baptism. In principle, the glassy sea before the throne of God signifies the operation of baptism. Eventually, in Revelation 15 certain of the saved ones are standing on the shore of “baptism,” rejoicing and singing just as Israel sang the song of Moses on the shore of the Red Sea.
Revelation 15:2 tells us that the glassy sea is mingled with fire. This sea is not of water but of fire. God’s judgment over His fallen creation was firstly with water, but after the flood God told Noah that He would not judge the earth again with water (Gen. 9:15). Instead, from that time onward God’s judgment has always been with fire (19:24; Rev. 14:10; 18:8; 19:20; 20:9-10; 21:8). Therefore, the glassy sea mingled with fire signifies both kinds of judgment by God, that by water and that by fire. This glassy sea eventually issues in the lake of fire. In front of the tabernacle was the laver, in front of the temple was the bronze sea with ten lavers, and in front of the heavenly temple there is the glassy sea. Eventually, outside the New Jerusalem there will be the lake of fire where all the things we buried in our baptism will go. This is our experience in the church. We must put all the dirt of the earth into the “sea” and bury it there.
The Israelites were baptized in the Red Sea, but because they had become old and fleshly in the wilderness, they needed to be baptized again in the Jordan. Likewise, we may have been baptized ten years ago, but today we may be full of dirt and old things. We must not bear these things in the church life. In the church there is a glassy sea into which we can jump and be washed. Today the baptistery is an entry for the negative things to go into the lake of fire. We need to let the dirt, the world, and all the negative things pass through that entrance and go into the lake of fire. If we are wearing the modern fashions from the department store, we need the experience of entering into the baptistery to be washed and allow those fashions to go to the lake of fire. Then we will be in the New Jerusalem in our experience. We must not despise the baptistery. It is the best place to send our earthly dirt on the way to the lake of fire. We may also compare the baptistery to the post office. If we feel that we still have some earthly dirt, we should go to the baptistery and “mail” it to the lake of fire. We need to be cleansed, through the entrance to the lake of fire. We must not keep the dirt on ourselves. We must be cleansed in the church.
I do not care for doctrine; I care for real experiences. I have seen many who went into baptism come out rejoicing, like those who will rejoice on the shore of the glassy sea. What a joy it is when all our dirt goes into the baptistery! I am not passing on an official teaching of rebaptism. I do not care for formal teachings. Rather, in principle, I would like to see many saints on the shore of the glassy sea. We wish to see some declaring that the modern fashions they purchased from the department store, that occupied them for many years, are now all gone. This is much better than mere doctrine. This is the principle of the overcomers in Revelation 15. In principle, we too can stand, rejoice, and sing on the shore of the glassy sea today. However, those who have not yet “jumped into that sea” are not able to rejoice. Only when we come out from that sea can we have such joy. This is the fifth aspect of the church as the testimony of Jesus in Revelation. The book of Revelation is truly a wonderful book, and today it is open and crystal clear to us.